The History of Scientific Expert Testimony in the English Courtroom

1 January 1999

journal article
research article
Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Science in Context

Vol. 12 (1) , 7-32
https://doi.org/10.1017/s026988970000329x

Abstract

The Argument: This paper provides a historical perspective to one of the liveliest debates in common law courts today — the one over scientific expert testimony. Arguing against the current tendency to present the problem of expert testimony as a late twentieth-century predicament which threatens to spin out of control, the paper shows that the phenomena of conflicting scientific testimonies have been perennial for at least two centuries, and intensely debated in both the legal and the scientific communities for at least 150 years.

Keywords

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